This is the issue as the “you were going to fast if you could not see” is unrealistic in some situations. Reality is you often make judgement calls else you would simply never be able to move. In this instance I was not speeding for example I’ve never been confronted with stopped cars in that area in my life. Judgement was therefore logical.
So some thoughts after nearly 3000 miles covered.
It really is very fast with torque to spare and the ability to pick up pace rapidly in any gear, though 7th is a long gear and tends to slow it down a bit. It took me some time to get use to the lower red line, I was used to on the V10 so hitting the rev limiter a couple of times, but now I am tuned in to that it is no problem. It feels a bit quicker than the R8 was and is certainly much quick lower down.
The ride even in softest settings is harsh and the R8 had better damping. On a well known road to me the R8 would be a quicker car as the GTR would be more unsettled, which speaks to the quality of the fixed damper set up on the R8 V10 Plus in Mk1 form, which was one of its real strengths. The GTR is very much like my GT3 was. Find a good road (or race track) and it is incredible, but come onto a badly cambered or bumpy road and it needs attention all the time. It will move around lots but it doesn't feel like it will throw you off the road where as the GT3 did and would.
Tyre temp is key to the car and when cold it is like driving on ice. Front end push as it pushes the tyres sideways, rear end sliding at slight throttle, really needs respect, but get the temp up and it just goes where you point it, loses the wheel spin and is so fast. I can see why this car is so quick at the Ring, it has been optimised for that (and perhaps compromised for British roads) but it is a spectacular car to drive and enjoy and keeps you on your toes.
Get's really positive comments from petrol heads and other motorists, mostly because many have no idea what it is outside of a Merc but it is very loud not least on overrun when the pops and bangs are a touch too loud if I am being honest. It scared me at first, cracks and bangs like Thors Hammer.
In summary, bloody love it.
It really is very fast with torque to spare and the ability to pick up pace rapidly in any gear, though 7th is a long gear and tends to slow it down a bit. It took me some time to get use to the lower red line, I was used to on the V10 so hitting the rev limiter a couple of times, but now I am tuned in to that it is no problem. It feels a bit quicker than the R8 was and is certainly much quick lower down.
The ride even in softest settings is harsh and the R8 had better damping. On a well known road to me the R8 would be a quicker car as the GTR would be more unsettled, which speaks to the quality of the fixed damper set up on the R8 V10 Plus in Mk1 form, which was one of its real strengths. The GTR is very much like my GT3 was. Find a good road (or race track) and it is incredible, but come onto a badly cambered or bumpy road and it needs attention all the time. It will move around lots but it doesn't feel like it will throw you off the road where as the GT3 did and would.
Tyre temp is key to the car and when cold it is like driving on ice. Front end push as it pushes the tyres sideways, rear end sliding at slight throttle, really needs respect, but get the temp up and it just goes where you point it, loses the wheel spin and is so fast. I can see why this car is so quick at the Ring, it has been optimised for that (and perhaps compromised for British roads) but it is a spectacular car to drive and enjoy and keeps you on your toes.
Get's really positive comments from petrol heads and other motorists, mostly because many have no idea what it is outside of a Merc but it is very loud not least on overrun when the pops and bangs are a touch too loud if I am being honest. It scared me at first, cracks and bangs like Thors Hammer.
In summary, bloody love it.
Soldato
Pops and bangs are ace on the right car and you're IS the right car. Great news and honest review detailing it's negatives.
Soldato
I expect you're on first name terms with the cashier at the local Shell garageSkillz right?
It is a thirsty thing.I expect you're on first name terms with the cashier at the local Shell garage
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3000 miles already yes well done, do you think you will be chopping it in before the mileage gets too high with depreciation ?
Nah. Always used my cars and taken the hit.
So a little bit of an update for anyone interested.
I took the car for its annual service to Macclesfield Mercedes on the 12th which ended up taking until late morning of the 13th to complete. It seems the plug replacement was a bigger job than planned so they asked for some more time to "make sure it's 100% right as a car like this we want to be right!", which I of course concurred with. Smidge annoyingly I was half way to them when they called (30 minutes in, but if they needed time I was happy to turn around and give them more).
I decided to let them wash the car after initially telling them not to and was promised "I have told them to be extra careful" and to be fair for a garage wash it was.....average. No marks I could see and better than when I dropped it off filthy so all in all fair enough I suppose. I spend and hour drying my car, all doors, boot and bonnet open, you all know the drill, but unreasonable to expect that level of attention.
One annoying thing that I only picked up to his PM was they had charged me £30 for the loan car! I have never paid for a loan car in my history of cars but now, £30 it is. I was about to make the call to the dealer but looking at my bill the sum off the parts is significantly less than I paid, so I will leave it. The bill is over 3 pages of utter confusion and all I can conclude is it's around £150 less than I was told it was going to be, so I'll move on.
So I leave the dealership (to thumbs up and nice comments from a few people....ah the joy of a special car) to head home when....5 minutes down the road....
Soooo back I head and they take out a smidge of oil. My conclusion is they put the right amount in, but didn't let all the old stuff finish emptying and it was a smidge over. The sensors on this car have a mind of their own too....more and that in a minute. The AMG specialist came out and explained what he had done, the extra checks etc, so happy to put this down to one of those things. Next time, 1/2 litre less and a 1 litre bottle for me to top it would be ideal.
So sensors....
On 3 different occasions now, twice pulling off a drive way and today, under hard acceleration coming onto a duel carriageway around a long sweeping bend I have had the electronics crap themselves! Previous 2 times was traction control related telling me I have none, fixed by turning it off and on again and nothing logged. Today was a bit more worrying, engine management light, engine cutting, then going to fixed yellow.....fixed by turning it off and on again with no messages left in the service list.
It is proving a touch temperamental, not least when you add the fact it had £4K of warranty bits swapped on a fundamentally new car. Again those were sensor and engine mounts, from reading a really common issue.
The weather in this country, not least heavy rain makes the tyres a real compromise. I have been out today, a nice warm day and when the tyres have heat they are magnificently grippy. Move to heavy rain and they give you death feelings. So exploring options to move to a PS4S. The current tyres, after 7K miles have 3-4mm on them so probably past their best, not least when it comes to rain but they are a shallower tread anyhow.
I love the car, it is proper special, but I hope it stops farting its brain when I push it.
I took the car for its annual service to Macclesfield Mercedes on the 12th which ended up taking until late morning of the 13th to complete. It seems the plug replacement was a bigger job than planned so they asked for some more time to "make sure it's 100% right as a car like this we want to be right!", which I of course concurred with. Smidge annoyingly I was half way to them when they called (30 minutes in, but if they needed time I was happy to turn around and give them more).
I decided to let them wash the car after initially telling them not to and was promised "I have told them to be extra careful" and to be fair for a garage wash it was.....average. No marks I could see and better than when I dropped it off filthy so all in all fair enough I suppose. I spend and hour drying my car, all doors, boot and bonnet open, you all know the drill, but unreasonable to expect that level of attention.
One annoying thing that I only picked up to his PM was they had charged me £30 for the loan car! I have never paid for a loan car in my history of cars but now, £30 it is. I was about to make the call to the dealer but looking at my bill the sum off the parts is significantly less than I paid, so I will leave it. The bill is over 3 pages of utter confusion and all I can conclude is it's around £150 less than I was told it was going to be, so I'll move on.
So I leave the dealership (to thumbs up and nice comments from a few people....ah the joy of a special car) to head home when....5 minutes down the road....
Soooo back I head and they take out a smidge of oil. My conclusion is they put the right amount in, but didn't let all the old stuff finish emptying and it was a smidge over. The sensors on this car have a mind of their own too....more and that in a minute. The AMG specialist came out and explained what he had done, the extra checks etc, so happy to put this down to one of those things. Next time, 1/2 litre less and a 1 litre bottle for me to top it would be ideal.
So sensors....
On 3 different occasions now, twice pulling off a drive way and today, under hard acceleration coming onto a duel carriageway around a long sweeping bend I have had the electronics crap themselves! Previous 2 times was traction control related telling me I have none, fixed by turning it off and on again and nothing logged. Today was a bit more worrying, engine management light, engine cutting, then going to fixed yellow.....fixed by turning it off and on again with no messages left in the service list.
It is proving a touch temperamental, not least when you add the fact it had £4K of warranty bits swapped on a fundamentally new car. Again those were sensor and engine mounts, from reading a really common issue.
The weather in this country, not least heavy rain makes the tyres a real compromise. I have been out today, a nice warm day and when the tyres have heat they are magnificently grippy. Move to heavy rain and they give you death feelings. So exploring options to move to a PS4S. The current tyres, after 7K miles have 3-4mm on them so probably past their best, not least when it comes to rain but they are a shallower tread anyhow.
I love the car, it is proper special, but I hope it stops farting its brain when I push it.
Very much enjoy reading your thoughts on these kinds of cars, the fact you put miles on and drive it means that you have some actual content to post on the matter rather than "its been in the garage 3 months, took it out for 40 miles, it was really fun"
I did 80 miles last night
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Current mileage is 7,334 and it was circa 3,900 at delivery, so heading towards 4000 miles added
Last 2,886 miles has seen average consumption of 17.5mpg
That's not bad mpg for such a car
Soldato
Current mileage is 7,334 and it was circa 3,900 at delivery, so heading towards 4000 miles added
Last 2,886 miles has seen average consumption of 17.5mpg
I've done just under 3000 miles in my 4.0 C63 since I purchased it and averaging 20.64MPG, although it's my daily so not hooning all the time!
It is more efficient than the old 6.2 but mainly on a run rather than normal stop/start driving.
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must be hard not to hoon that around all the time, awesome cars.
Soldato
Ive done 1691 miles in my E63S and averaged 18.3mpg. Had just over 4k miles on it when I bought it